The Martian

The Martian by Andy Weir was the type of book that I will read many times. My brother, sister and mum had all read this book and said good things so I thought I’d give it a read. I’ve never really read science-fiction books before, but I certainly will after reading this book.

I’m stranded on Mars.

I have no way to communicate with Earth.

If the Oxygenator breaks down, I’ll suffocate. If the Water Reclaimer breaks down, I’ll die of thirst. If the Habitat breaches, I’ll just kind of explode.

If none of those things happen, I’ll eventually run out of food and starve to death.

I’m Screwed.

What I loved about this book was the first sentence. “I’m pretty much fucked.” I think it was the perfect introduction to Mark Watney. He is stranded on Mars, there was some unfortunate events which led to his crew mates aborting the mission and evacuating Mars immediately, and believing Mark was dead, left him behind. So the first sentence, is the perfect introduction to Watney and his situation.

This is a story against all odds. Andy Weir uses humour and sarcasm throughout this book and he does it well. Watney is stranded on Mars, he has no way to communicate with Earth, to NASA or his crew mates and the next scheduled mission to mars is four years away. Watney’s food supplies allow him last just under a year, so he will starve to death.

However, Watney is at a bit of an advantage as an Astronaut stranded on Mars. He’s a botanist and a mechanical engineer trained by NASA for space missions to Mars. He uses his knowledge in these areas to prolong his chances of survival and lasting much longer than expected.

I’m no science geek – science confuses the hell out of me, but Weir explained complex science in a simple and interesting way that even I could understand. This book is solely for those who are good at Maths and Chemistry, anyone can read this book and understand it.

This book is mostly a narration by Watney about his life on Mars and how he’s going to survive and all the problem he bumps into. But we are also told the story of what NASA are doing in an attempt to help Watney and how to allow Watney to survive for longer.

I was completely stuck into this book the entire way through. I was rooting for Mark Watney from the beginning to the end, and actually believed that he was a real Astronaut and this was real life, so for me, this book gets 5 stars.

My plan for today is to watch the film, so I’m sure this will be updated very soon.